My Snowy Day

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We’ve asked some very recognizable Keats lovers for their memories of growing up

with this childhood classic. Here, Ben Stiller on snow days in New York City.

Growing up in New York in the 1970s, snow was magical. When it came, the city shut down. It became quiet and beautiful. And most of all, No School! For me, reading The Snowy Day as a kid on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, there was an innate connection to Peter in his iconic orange snowsuit, his mom getting him ready for bed, and the impermanence of the snowball he kept in his pocket. All of these images stuck with me my whole life. Keats captured the timelessness of childhood, the way a child makes even an urban landscape into his playground. And mostly the giddy anticipation we all had as kids of hoping that it would snow that night, and what the morning would bring.